Crackdown on fake armed forces social media accounts

ISLAMABAD: A list of over 250 fraudulent social media accounts using the names of Pakistan’s armed forces has been forwarded to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director-General (DG) Major General Asif Ghafoor for the purpose of a crackdown on such accounts, says a press release.

The FIA has, in turn, notified the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) regarding the accounts which are on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Youtube. The accounts are portraying themselves as personnel of the armed forces and are using the names of the Pakistan Army, Pakistan Air Force and Pakistan Navy.

These accounts are being operated by unauthorised individuals as they assumed the role of speaking on behalf of the armed forces and they have been gaining attention on social media, giving a misleading impression that statements posted from these accounts are official statements by the armed forces of Pakistan.

The steps taken by the ISPR against over 250 accounts including 45 Twitters accounts, 94 Facebook pages, 101 Youtube accounts, and 15 Instagram accounts have quashed criticism from certain quarters that had assumed statements on the said accounts to be the official statements of the armed forces.